People v. Woods

Plaintiff in error, John A. Woods, was convicted on his plea of guilty of the crime of murder and sentenced to fourteen years’ imprisonment by the circuit court of McLean County. He now comes to this court by writ of error, pro se, on the common-law record alone, seeking to set aside his conviction for one alleged error: that counsel appointed for him by the court were incompetent.

We have frequently held that competency of counsel cannot be determined from the common-law record, (People v. Gulley, 411 Ill. 228; People v. Clifton, 408 Ill. 475,) but plaintiff in error here contends that the…